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The Executive Committee members of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) led by President Shreejana Rana paid a courtesy call on newly appointed Ambassador of India to Nepal Naveen Srivastava at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Friday.

During the meeting, Rana discussed NICCI’s contribution to development of Nepal-India bilateral trade, transit, investment, energy and tourism in the last 30 years.

She emphasized that NICCI will remain pro-active for bilateral developments in these areas.

The delegation also informed the ambassador  on the activities  done by the Chamber and also discussed the planed programs of the Chamber like Partnership Summit and Energy Summit among others for the ongoing and upcoming years and requested the embassy for the active support.

President Rana also touched upon the importance of bilateral tourism.

She briefed the Indian Ambassador about the Nepal-India Bilateral Tourism Promotion Joint Working Group that has taken place in the last few years which was facilitated by NICCI.

In response, Ambassador Srivastava appreciated the works done by NICCI and thanked NICCI team for the visit.

He said that India has always been supporting in the development of Nepal and so continues to support in overall development of Nepal today as well.

He expressed his assurance to support NICCI’s activities for enhancing Nepal-India bilateral trade, transit, investment and overall economic relation in the days ahead and eager to work together.

Ambassador Srivastava along with First Secretary (Commerce) Abhishek Upadhyay were present in the meeting from the embassy while the delegates of NICCI led by President Rana was accompanied by the Executive Committee members.

Russia is preparing for the next stage of its offensive in Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said, after Moscow said its forces would step up military operations in "all operational areas," Reuters reported.

Russian rockets and missiles have pounded cities in strikes that Kyiv says have killed dozens in recent days.

"It is not only missile strikes from the air and sea," Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said on Saturday. "We can see shelling along the entire line of contact, along the entire front line. There is an active use of tactical aviation and attack helicopters.

"There is indeed a certain activation of the enemy along the entire front line... Clearly preparations are now underway for the next stage of the offensive.”

The Ukrainian military said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an offensive towards Sloviansk, a symbolically important city held by Ukraine in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Ukraine says at least 40 people have been killed in Russian shelling of urban areas in the last three days, as the war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24 intensifies.

Rockets hit the northeastern town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region on Friday night, killing three people including a 70-year-old woman and wounding three others, said regional Governor Oleh Synehubov.

"Three people lost their lives, why? What for? Because Putin went mad?" said Raisa Shapoval, 83, a distraught resident sitting in the ruins of her home, according to Reuters.

To the south, more than 50 Russian Grad rockets pounded the city of Nikopol on the Dnipro River, killing two people who were found in the rubble, said Governor Valentyn Reznichenko.

Moscow, which calls the invasion a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour, says it uses high-precision weapons to degrade Ukraine's military infrastructure and protect its own security. It has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Kyiv and the West say the conflict is an unprovoked attempt to reconquer a country that broke free of Moscow's rule with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered military units to intensify operations to prevent Ukrainian strikes on eastern Ukraine and other areas held by Russia, where he said Kyiv could hit civilian infrastructure or residents, according to a statement from the ministry.

His remarks appeared to be a direct response to what Kyiv says is a string of successful strikes carried out on 30 Russian logistics and ammunitions hubs, using several multiple launch rocket systems recently supplied by the West.

The strikes are causing havoc with Russian supply lines and have significantly reduced Russia's offensive capability, Ukraine's defence ministry spokesperson said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Pushpa Bhusal has been elected as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

A common candidate of the ruling coalition, Bhusal defeated Bidhya Bhattarai of the CPN-UML to become the deputy speaker of the Parliament. Bhusal is the whip of Nepali Congress.

Sher garnered 148 votes while her nearest rival Bhattarai secured 93 votes. One lawmaker stayed neutral.

Also a member of the Constituent Assembly, Bhusal had played an important role in formulating the constitution.

The post of deputy speaker had been lying vacant after the then deputy speaker Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe resigned from her post on January 20, 2020.

There are 271 lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

One has to obtain 136 votes to be elected as the deputy speaker of the Parliament.

The ruling coalition has 154 lawmakers while the main opposition CPN-UML has 98 lawmakers. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which has one lawmaker, supported the UML. 

The Supreme Court scrapped the writ petition filed against the appointment of Inspector General of Nepal Police. 

A joint bench of acting Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Karki and Justice Kumar Chudal on Friday quashed the writ petition filed by AIG Bishwa Raj Pokharel, giving validation to the appointment of Dhiraj Pratap Singh. 

Earlier on May 2, Pokharel had filed the petition arguing that the government appointed Singh as the IG of Nepal Police flouting the seniority basis. 

With the annulment of the writ, the deck has been cleared for Singh to complete his term.

Similarly, the apex court also quashed the writ petition filed by Ishwor Babu Karki, Ghanshyam Aryal and Praksh Jung Karki. 

The trio had filed the petition on March 31 expressing dissatisfaction over the appointment of AIG.